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Association of residential greenness with the risk of metabolic syndrome in Chinese older adults: a longitudinal cohort study

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Abstract

Aims

We aimed to investigate the association between residential greenness and MetS in older Chinese adults.

Methods

Longitudinal data on sociodemographic characteristics and lifestyle were collected from the Shenzhen Healthy Ageing Research (SHARE) cohort. Greenness exposure was assessed through satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values in the 250-m, 500-m, and 1250-m radius around the residential address for each participant. MetS was defined by standard guidelines for the Chinese population.

Results

A total of 49,893 older Chinese adults with a mean age of 70.96 (SD = 5.26) years were included in the study. In the fully adjusted models, participants who lived in the highest quartile of NDVI250-m, NDVI500-m, and NDVI1250-m had a 15% (odds ratio, OR = 0.85, 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.80–0.90), 12% (OR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.83–0.93), and 11% (OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.85–0.95) lower incidence of MetS, respectively, than those living in the lowest quartile (all p-trend < 0.01). Interactions and subgroup analyses showed that age, sex, smoking status, and drinking status were significant effect modifiers (p-interaction for all NDVI < 0.05).

Conclusions

Residential greenness is associated with a lower risk of MetS in Chinese older adults, especially for young older adults, females, non-smokers, and non-drinkers.

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Abbreviations

SHARE:

Shenzhen healthy ageing research cohort

NDVI:

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

MetS:

Metabolic syndrome

MODIS:

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

TC:

Cholesterol

TG:

Triglyceride

LDL-C:

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol

HDL-C:

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol

WC:

Waist circumference

FBG:

Fasting blood glucose

NCEP/ATP III:

National Cholesterol Education Program/Adult Treatment Panel III Criteria

IDF:

International Diabetes Federation

CDS:

Chinese Diabetes Society

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the physical examination participants and the community health centre staff in Shenzhen who were involved in this study. We thank our Australian colleagues the Senior Researcher A/Prof Jiang and his Assistant Mr Rowan Dowling (a native English Speaker) from School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University to proof read and edit the manuscript carefully. We also would like to thank Ms. Mingdan Zhang, a master of the Institute of international rivers and eco-security, Yunnan University, for her help in remote-sensing technology.

Funding

Zhiguang Zhao was supported by the Shenzhen Medical Key Discipline Construction Fund and Sanming Project of Medicine in Shenzhen (Grant No. SZSM201811093). Wenqing Ni was supported by the Medical Scientific Research Foundation of Guangdong Province, China (Grant Number A2022082). Role of the Funder/Sponsor The funders had no role in the design or conduct of the study. As such, the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, and approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication were all free of funder involvement.

Author information

Author notes

  1. P. Ke and M. Xu are considered joint first authors.

  2. H. Jiang, Z. Zhao, and Z. Lu considered joint senior authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

    P. Ke, M. Xu & Z. Lu

  2. Shenzhen Center for Chronic Disease Control, No. 2021 Buxin Road, Shenzhen, 518020, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    J. Xu, X. Yuan, W. Ni, Y. Sun, H. Zhang, Y. Zhang & Z. Zhao

  3. School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, People’s Republic of China

    Q. Tian

  4. Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC, 3086, Australia

    R. Dowling & H. Jiang

  5. Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    H. Jiang

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Contributions

PK, ZZ, and MX: conceptualization, methodology, data curation and analysis, and original draft preparation. JX, HZ, YZ, QT, and ZL: technical support and critical revision of the manuscript. MX, WN, XY, and YS: technical support and obtained funding. As a Senior Researcher, A/Prof HJ has made significant contributions to the revision of the language of this manuscript. Rowan Dowling proof read and edit the manuscript carefully. ZL, ZZ, and HJ: conceptualization, administrative support, and supervision.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to H. Jiang, Z. Zhao or Z. Lu.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

Ethics approval

The study was approved by the Shenzhen Center for Chronic Disease Control Human Ethics Committee (No. SZCCC-2021-061-01-PJ).

Research involving human participants or animals 

Our study was approved by the Institution's Ethics Committee "The study was approved by the Shenzhen Center for Chronic Disease Control Human Ethics Committee (No. SZCCC-2021-061-01-PJ)." Meanwhile, The Shenzhen Center for Chronic Disease Control Human Ethics Committee informed this study with an exemption from consent requirements, since claims data were provided anonymously.

Consent to participate

The Shenzhen Center for Chronic Disease Control Human Ethics Committee provided this study with an exemption from informed consent requirements, since claims data were provided anonymously.

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Our study has not been published previously.

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Ke, P., Xu, M., Xu, J. et al. Association of residential greenness with the risk of metabolic syndrome in Chinese older adults: a longitudinal cohort study. J Endocrinol Invest 46, 327–335 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-022-01904-5

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